Tied Together With A Smile
by semmaforeva
Summary: Degrassi:TNGLife With Derek crossover. Darcy Edwards is Casey's cousin. Derek and Casey have some sexual tension. Darcy is coming to stay at the VenturiMcDonald house for the rest of the school year. Jealousy, anger, angst, sadness, and drama all ensue.
1. The Announcement

"Good news, Case!" Nora exclaims as she rushes into the living room with the cordless telephone in hand. "I just got off the phone with my sister and she's sending your cousin, Darcy to stay with us for the rest of the school year." Nora is quite excited until she sees the smile from Casy's face subside into a confused expression.

"Why is she staying foir the rest of the school year?" Casey asks uncertain. "She's a senior. Doesn't she want to graduate with her friends?" Casey states.

"Well..." Nora trails off and starts again. "It's complicated." She hesitates." Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am. I just think it's strange that's all." Just as she finishes Derek comes through the door throwing his hockey gear on the ground his leather jacket on the coat rack. Edwin and George follow closely after.

"What's strange?" Edwin blurts out.

"Casey's face." Derek states with a sinister smirk on his face.

"Derek!" George shouts. "You're room. Now." George hangs his coat on the rack as Derek hurries towards the stairs and mutters something under his breath but Nora interupts.

"No, Derek. Stay here. I need to make an announcement." She proclaims as Derek plops down onto his recliner and Edwin seats in the seat next to Casey. George continues to stand. "My neice is going to be staying with us for a while."

"All school year actually." Casey finishes.

"And you decided this without me?" George asks confusingly.

"Well, my sister called and Darcy's been having trouble in school..." She trails off again half convincingly.

"Well I'm ok with it as long as she invests in one of my lasest buisness ventures." Edwin declares.

Casey simply rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Edwin."

Nora looks at George with hope in her eyes. He hesitates. "Ok. It's fine with me as long as everyone else is ok with it."

"Derek?" Nora looks towards and waits for his reply.

"Yeah, it's ok with me." He pauses. "As long as she's hot." He smirks.

"Der-ek!" Casey cries out. "You can't make out with _all_ of my cousins."

"I begged a differ." He continues to smirk as Casey's face turns red with what appears to be anger. If Derek only knew the truth. If he only knew that it was jealousy making her so angry. Not the fact that he would tease and tourture her every second. Maybe he does those things for the same reasons she looks so angry right now. They're both too stubborn to let the other in or let their gaurd down.

"What's going on?" Lizzie says as she walks through the door cover in dirt from soccer practice.

"Hey, Liz." Casey greets her sister. "Darcy's coming to stay with us."

"Darcy?" She asks confusingly.

"Lizzie hasn't seen Darcy since she was about four or five, Casey. She wouldn't remember her." Nora states.

"Who's Darcy?" Lizzie questions again waiting for her answer.

"Our cousin. Her family is really religious and she goes to Degraasi Community School." Casey informs Lizzie.

"Ohhhh. I remember her!" Lizzie exclaims."Her and her sister threw holy water on me when we were little and said it was a baptism. They're weird." Lizzie concludes

"Ok..." Derek says a bit weirded out. "Obviously I won't be hitting on her. Nothing to worry about, Case." He states as he heads up the stairs.

"Thanks, Der." Casey says sarcastically as she watches him walk away. "Lizzie, they were little. I visited Darcy in July and she was really cool. Don't even worry."

"If you say so." Lizzie agrees. "I better go change." Lizzie states as she resigns to her bedroom.

"Yeah, I better freshen up myself." Edwin announces. "I've got a hot date tonight." He does a little spin and a short dance move before continuing up the stairs.

Casey laughs silently then opens a book and begins to read.

"Casey, I'm heading to the store for dinner. Do you need anything?" Nora questions.

"No, I'm good." She smiles as her mother grabs her purse and heads out the door. George goes down to the basement shortly after leaving Casey alone with her book._ If We Kiss..._


	2. Introductions

The Venturi/McDonald household had been preparing all week for Darcy's visit. Casey had to rearange her room completely to make more room for Darcy. It was the Day of Darcy's arival and George was out picking her up from the airport.

Nora was dusting off a few things to finish the cleaning as Casey walked down stairs. "Is your room ready for Darcy, Case?"

As ready as it's going to be." Casey smiled obiediently. "Why is she staying here again?"

"Oh.. Well." Nora stopped as Derek walked out of the kitchen eating an ice cream sandwich. She used Derek's entrance as an excuse to change the subject. "Derek, is your room clean?" Casey looked anooyed and confused. Why wouldn't Nora give her a reason.

"Taken care of." Derek said with his mouth full. "Edwin!" He shouted through the house. Edwin came running from upstairs.

"Yeah, bro?" Edwin asked out of breath and looking grimey.

"How's the room coming?" Derek questioned as he finished his creamy treat.

"A-OK. It'll be finished in no time." He reported back.

"Derek!" Nora exclaimed. "Go finish cleaning your room."

Derek walked upstairs. "Fine!" He said exasperated.

"And you." Nora looked at Edwin. "Go get washed up and change your clothes."

"Will do." Edwin headed back upstairs in the bathroom.

Casey heard a car door and went to open the front door. "They're here!" She called out to the rest of the house. Lizzie and Marti came down followed by Edwin who still hadn't changed his clothes. Derek hadn't come yet. George walked in with Darcy's bags.

Nora walked to the door to help and asked. "Where's Darcy?" She looked around.

"I'm right here." Darcy said with a smile as she walked through the door.

Casey hugged her cousin. "Hey, Darcy. It's great to see you."

Darcy hugged her back and said the same. She looked at the rest of the family and started greeting them. "Hi, Aunt Nora." She walked over and hugged Nora.

"Hi, Darcy. It's been so long. You've grown up so much." She smiled.

Darcy pulled away. "Thank you." She walked over to the younger kids. She saw Lizzie and recognized her. "Aw, Lizzie. You've gotten so big." She smiled. "I've only seen you in pictures the past few years."

Lizzie smiled. Darcy was much nicer than she remembered. "Hi."

Darcy looked at Marti and kneeled down. "And you must be Marti."

"Who wants to know?" Marti was defensive. She never got along well with strangers.

"I'm Darcy. You're..." She wasn't sure what they were to each other. "Step cousin?" She turned to Nora who nodded her approval.

Edwin just butted in. "And I'm Edwin"

Darcy laughed a bit. "Pleasure to meet you, Edwin."

He took her hand and kissed it. "The pleasure's all mine." She held back her laughter and Casey rolled her eyes.

"Please just ignore him." Casey giggled.

"Isn't there another step brother?" She looked around.

"None as good looking." Edwin winked.

"If he's half as charming he doesn't need looks." She laughed.

"He's not. Trust me." Casey said annoyed at the thought of Derek.

Nora called out "DEREK!"

"It's clean!" They could hear him shout from upstairs.

George shouted. "Come down here, Derek!"

"What?" Derek whined a bit as he walked half way down the stairs. He stopped when he spotted Darcy.

Nora began introducing them. "Derek. This is Darcy."

"Well, hello, Darcy." He said slyly making his way down the stairs. "Derek Venturi." He said popping his collar. Casey just rolled her eyes again. "The McDonalds did not do you justice."

Darcy smiled as Casey butted in. "Oh please, Derek." She turned to Darcy. "Would you like to see our room, Darcy?"

"Sure." She agreed. "Nice meeting everyone." She said as her and Casey carried bags up the stairs.


	3. Author's Note

**I want everyone to be aware that this **_**DOES **_**take place after the episode "Standing In The Dark." But I'll explain more in the upcoming chapters. I only say this because someone asked and I thought I'd clear it up. **

**Thanks for the love and support. :)**


	4. The Amazing Shirtless Boy

Casey showed Darcy to their bedroom. Darcy and Casey set down the few bags they carried up next to the cot Nora had gotten out for Darcy to sleep on.

"This is only temporary. We're going to get you a real bed to sleep on." Casey shuffled about but then finally sat on her bed.

"It's fine, really. I'm just glad your mom is letting me stay here." Darcy smiled and looked around the room. "This is a cute place you've got."

"Thanks." Casey said as she pulled out her copy of _If We Kiss..._

"Speaking of cute." Darcy abruptly changed the subject and Casey looked up at her. "Does Derek have a girlfriend?" Casey looked disgusted and set her book back down on the night stand.

"What?" Casey questioned in horror. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm sure you can do much better than _Derek._" Casey was overwhelmed with anger maybe this anger was caused by the jealousy building up inside her. Why can her cousin have a chance with Derek?

"It was just a question, Casey." Darcy laughed a bit. "But does he?" She said after a short awkward silence.

"Not that I'm aware of." Casey said coldly.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Darcy said concerned. Not that it would stop her from trying anything.

"Only everything." Casey said in a harsh tone.

"OK. OK." Darcy wanted to switch the subject. She looked around a bit and saw a few pictures of Casey with a cute guy. They looked pretty cozy. "Is that your boyfriend?" Casey looked up to see the picture she was pointing at. Her face lit up.

"Yeah, that's Max." Casey stood up. "That's us at the prom. He's my Prince Charming." She grinned and gazed off into space dreamily.

"Casey?" Darcy looked concerned. Casey didn't seem to notice anything that was going on. "Casey?" Darcy waved her hand in front of Casey who awoke from her trance.

"Oh. Sorry." She giggled a bit. "What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?" Darcy tightened up after this question was asked.

"Well, sort of. His name is Peter." She said quickly. "Hey, what book is that?" Casey thought Darcy's tone was a bit odd. What happened to her back in Toronto?

"It's called _If We Kiss..._ It's about this girl who's mom marries the guy she like's dad. It's pretty juicy." She smirked. "Are you reading any good books?" Darcy pulled out a book with a pink cover and showed it to Casey.

"_Confessions of a Boyfriend Stealer_. It's pretty good." They both stood in silence for a few seconds. That whole Derek Dibocle threw off their cousin bonding time. "Maybe we could switch when we're done."

"Sure." Casey said softly. "I'm going to take a shower. Can you manage on your own?" Casey smiled as she gathered her things. Darcy saw Derek walk past Casey's door out of the corner of her eye. She smirked devilishly.

"I think so." Darcy said coyly. Casey left towards the bathroom and about ten seconds after she heard the door shut Darcy walked over to Derek's room. Derek was shirtless, looking in the mirror while flexing. Darcy stared for a moment and then knocked and spoke. "Knock. Knock." She smiled as Derek turned around obviously embarassed.

"Oh, ummm, hey. I was just..." He was at a loss for words. "Ya know?" She laughed and walked into his room.

"Admiring yourself in the mirror?" She smirked. "I would too if I were you." This gave Derek a new sense of confidence but still was unsure about how to react to his step cousin coming on to him so strongly. It happened with Vicky but she never caught him shirtless.

"Well, yeah. But I just finished working out." He said smoothly.

"Really? What do you lift?" She walked closer and Derek's voice cracked a bit.

"Ya know." He smiled and walked towards his bed. Darcy followed.

"Yeah." She grinned as she approached his bed and sat closely to him. "I hear you play hockey."

"Yeah. I'm the captain." He was completely reassured of himself once hockey was put into the mix. "Not that it's a big deal." He tried to act humble which didn't really suit him. Darcy leaned in closer to Derek.

"I like hockey." She whispered.

"It's the Canadian way." He joked as she moved in closer. Derek was turning red.

"Yeah." She stopped then whispered even softer. "But like you said." She stood up and walked over to stand in the door frame then turned back to Derek. "It's not a big deal." She shrugged and Derek could hear her walking down stairs. Edwin walked into Derek's room after seeing Darcy leave.

"What was that about, Bro?" He said standing in the doorway.

"Just getting to know our new cousin." Derek said with a grin as his voice got a bit high and didn't stand up.

"Well, Nora said to tell you lunch is about ready. So get dressed." Edwin turned to walk away.

"I'll be down in five." Edwin walked out of the room and Derek just looked down at his lap and shook his head.


End file.
